An innovative teacher, a big idea and talented students share stories

https://themtstimes.org/ link to this and also let’s have that be a permanent link on MTS Secondary site

Ms. Selander, MTS Secondary ELL teacher, recently went back for an additional teaching license in English. She agreed to teach an elective English class, and figured, “This is a perfect year to start a school newspaper because there sure is a lot going on in the world to report on! I also think it is important that our students have the same opportunities as students who go to larger public schools, and I thought one thing we were missing was a school newspaper!”

“We spent the first quarter learning the basics of journalism and reporting, and then began writing official articles in quarter two. The students were a bit apprehensive at first, but when they started seeing their articles published on a real website they got pretty excited! I think some of the students felt like they weren’t strong enough writers to have their work published, but as we worked through the editing process together they started to gain more confidence. I’m very thankful for programs like google docs, where we can edit the same document together in real time. I think this is an excellent way to improve grammar and editing skills.”

Ms. Selander also had students work on their confidence by interviewing peers and then various staff at MTS (which you can see in the Spotlights section of the paper). “Many of them were worried about the interview assignment and I’m so proud that they overcame their fear of interviewing an adult and wrote some really great stuff! They asked insightful, meaningful questions and it really shows. We also have an advice column that Ms. Lane helped set up, so that any student at MTS can anonymously submit a question and get multiple perspectives back.”

There are all kinds of exciting plans for the future, “I would love to work with families to advertise their businesses and get the students out into the community to write reviews and conduct interviews with people outside of MTS.” She said

The class is thinking about adding letters to the editor and featuring writing and art from guest writers outside the journalism class. Currently, the class is collaborating with Ms. Albin’s art class to feature amazing student artwork on the site.

Ms. Selander has plans to expand the class into a newspaper/yearbook class. “Seeing the newspaper come to life has really sparked an interest in many students and I think next year we’ll have a really passionate group of kids ready to make the best yearbook ever!”

A small school with big, creative ideas is what MTS is all about.